


New Tricks

by misura



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ahch-To, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25608319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Lando pays a visit to an old friend.
Relationships: Lando Calrissian/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15
Collections: Rare Male Slash Exchange 2020





	New Tricks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [doublejoint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/doublejoint/gifts).



Irony: if he hadn't cut himself off from the Force, he would have sensed Lando's arrival and been able to stay out of sight for a while, pretend he'd moved on. As things were, he came back from another delightfully boring day to discover someone had made himself at home.

"Luke Skywalker."

Luke fought down a sudden urge to step forward, go for a hug. It wouldn't have to mean anything, just a friendly greeting between friends - but he'd cut himself off from the Force. He could handle _not_ getting a hug. He was an adult.

"You know, you're a hard man to find," Lando said, still smiling, and Luke suddenly knew that it was going to take a lot to get rid of him.

Cutting himself off from the Force had been easy. Coming here had been easy. Sinking his X-wing had been easy. Believing the galaxy and Leia were better off without him had been easy.

Getting rid of Lando wasn't going to be easy. In fact, it was probably going to be a pain in the ass.

"You didn't think maybe I didn't _want_ to be found? That it was a hint?" This would go a lot easier if he stopped look at Lando's face, so he did.

"Hey, you want me gone, I'm gone, man," Lando said, and Luke had the horrible certainty that he meant it.

"How did you even find me?" Vey few star maps showed this planet. It had been rather frustrating at one time, but then he'd wanted a place to hide, and suddenly, it had felt like a blessing, maybe even a sign. The Force, showing him the way to stop ruining everything.

"I have my ways," Lando said. "Old friends, older enemies. You know how it goes. We had some wild times together, back in the day, huh? Good times."

Luke sighed. They had been good times, he supposed, even if they had felt more like bad times. Terrifying times. You-got-hurt-and-I-don't-know-how-Force-healing-works times.

"Come on. You can spend the night in one of the huts where the roof doesn't leak."

He half-expected (or, if he were honest with himself, half- _hoped_ ) for Lando to suggest he spend the night right here: Lando'd make it sound easy and normal and logical, and Luke would've said 'yes' before he'd be able to think about it, list all the reasons why it would be a bad idea.

Instead, Lando just got up and said, "Lead the way, Master Skywalker," and Luke did.

He slept poorly that night, dreaming of things he didn't remember when he woke up, except that they had been bad, which didn't exactly narrow it down.

He tried to tell himself it was Lando's fault, stirring up memories, and that it would be best for everyone involved if Lando were to leave again as soon as possible, never to return.

This almost worked until the moment Lando showed up and told him, "Good morning!".

Looking at Lando, he almost felt like that was true. "Morning. If you want breakfast - "

Lando held up - was that a mug? "Already got room service, thanks."

"Who - " Like there was anyone else running around here, delivering people breakfast. (Well, _some_ people. Even in the early days, Luke had only ever felt like his presence here was tolerated, rather than welcomed. He'd worked hard at being a good guest, and for a few days, he'd even tried being social, before he realized that was pretty much the opposite of what they wanted from him.)

"Nice girls," Lando said with a grin that Luke had once thought meant something other than simply that Lando liked people, and that people returned the feeling more often than one might expect.

Lando hadn't mentioned how long he planned on staying. Luke reasoned that as long as Lando was here, Lando wasn't out there, telling other people where to find him. Therefore, Lando staying was a good thing that Luke should feel good about. (As he did.)

They talked about the past sometimes - past adventures, past mistakes, past mysteries.

"You ever feel like the best part of your life is already behind you?" Lando asked.

"Yes, I do, because the best part of my life _is_ behind me," Luke said. It could be argued that it had also been the worst: he'd helped save the galaxy only to turn around and create Kylo Ren.

"Lousy way to live," Lando said. "I mean, most days, I feel fine. Now, I may not be as spry as I used to be, but up here - " he tapped his head " - sharp as ever, if not sharper."

"And what you chose to do with that sharpness is find a man who didn't want to be found." Lando still hadn't explained how, precisely, he'd managed that. Luke hadn't pushed.

Lando shrugged. "I had some time in between jobs, so I figured, why not go look in on an old friend, see how he's doing."

"I'm doing okay," Luke said.

"Good. Glad to hear it."

"That's it?" He could have kept his mouth shut, enjoy yet another quiet evening. There'd been a lot of those before Lando's arrival. "You're not even going to _try_ to convince me to go back, or send a message to Leia, or - ?"

"Why the heck should I do that? Last I checked, you're a full-grown man, perfectly capable of making your own decisions. You want to stay here instead of getting out there, it's not _my_ job to come and tell you to quit being a dumbass."

"Thanks."

"First time someone thanked me for calling them a dumbass." Lando grinned. "See? Still plenty of new experiences to have even when you're our age. All you got to do is go out there and find them. Live a little. Take some chances. You might be surprised."

_I was - when it turned out my nephew had turned to the Dark side right under my nose._ "It's not that simple."

"All right. If you say so. I mean, I'm no Jedi, so what would I know about it?"

Luke stared. Lando looked back, still smiling, still looking like all Luke had to do was reach out. "If this is a trick, I warn you, it's not going to work."

"Good thing it's not a trick then, isn't it?"

At least Lando didn't look too much smugger than he usually did when Luke showed up the next morning, all packed and ready to go. He'd told the care-takers not to expect him back, which had been met with impassivity.

"We going somewhere?"

"You ever heard of Sith wayfinders?"

"Can't say that I have. But like I said, always happy to learn new things."

Luke sighed. He wished he could be sure that he was doing the right thing, instead of repeating his earlier mistakes. He'd cut himself off from the Force, yet here he was, getting involved again. Getting _attached_ again.

"Hey," Lando said. "Good to have you back. You watch, we'll show these young folks a thing or two."

(Possibly every care-taker on the island came to see them off. Lando waved at them, and they waved back. Most of them had brought handkerchiefs.)

**Author's Note:**

> as far as I noticed, Lando never specifies _when_ he and Luke went looking for the wayfinder, so my answer here is: 'not as long ago as Rey & co assume'.


End file.
